Adjustable car-step.



I. J. HAAS. ADJ USTABLB GAB STEP. 1121 111011101: r-ILn 1mm 28, 1911. 1,037,475 Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

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ADJUSTABLE GAR STEP. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 28, 1911.

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Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

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FRANK J. HAAS, 0F RQCKLAKE, NORTH DAKOTA.

ADJUSTABLE CAR-STEP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

Application filed June 28, 1911. Serial No. 635,731..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. HAAS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rocklake, in the county of Towner and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Gar- S teps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railroad cars and more particularly to steps therefor, and has for its object to provide a car step including an extension and a connection between the extension and the vestibule trap, by which the extension will be lowered to operative position when the trap is raised, but which, when the trap is lowered, will be raised into an inoperative position.

Another object is to provide a step of this kind which may be easily attached to the stairs of cars already in use, and one which will be relatively cheap and which will be susceptible of easy adjustment.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a car with the present invention applied thereto, Fig. 2, a side view of the step lowered, Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the trap raised and the step in operative position, Fig. 4:, a section showing the arrangement of the cables and the mounting thereof, Fig. 5, a detail perspective view of the step mounting removed.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a car 5 of the vestibule type provided with the usual flight of stairs 6. These stairs include inclined side members 7 and transverse steps 8. On the outer face of each side member there are vertically spaced pairs'of pins 9 and these pins are engaged in the slots 10 which are formed in the sides 11 of a supplemental step member 12, this step member including a transversely extending step 12 which is formed integral with the sides 11. From the drawings it will be seen that, by reason of the longitudinal slots 10, the sides 11 are mounted for sliding movement on the side members 6, to raise and lower the supplemental step 12.

Hinged to the end 14 of the car, in the usual manner, there is a vestibule trap 15 and this vestibule trap has connected therewith a cable 16 which extends through the end of the car and over a pulley 17 and is then carried down and through an opening 18 formed in the floor of a car indicated at 19. Below the car, the cable is extended down and is connected with the adjacent side member 11 of the supplemental step.

As will be seen from the drawings, the top step .8 ofthe stairs proper is located slightly below the bottom of the car 19 and directly below this top step, the side members 7 of the stairs have pulleys let thereinto, indicated at 20, and these pulleys receive a supplemental cable 21 which ext-ends transversely of the stairs directly below the top step and is carried through a pulley 22 secured centrally to the top step. This supplemental cable is attached to the first mentioned cable 16 directly below the floor of the car when the trap is down, as shown.

In operation, the trap is of course raised when the vestibule is to be opened, which slackens the cables and the step 12 is carried down by gravity to proper position and thus performs the function of the usual box placed upon the station platform. When the trap 15 is lowered, the cable 16 is raised which also raises the supplemental cable 21 and, since these two cables are attached to the respective side members 11 of the supplemental step, these, with the supplemental step are raised out of operative position.

It will be seen that the present structure is one which may be easily constructed and which may be installed upon railroad cars at a minimum expense and without alteration of the usual structure of the car.

What is claimed is 1. The combination with a railroad car having a floor, an end, a flight of steps, and a trap hinged to the end, of a supplementary bottom step member located at the lower end of the steps, side members connected with the supplementary step member and extending over the sides of the flight of steps, con nections between the side members and the flight of steps for sliding movement of the side members, flexible cables connected with the side members, pulleys carried by the car and the steps to receive the cables and a trap hinged to the car, said cables being connected with the trap to raise the supplementary step member when the trap is lowered.

2. The combination with a railroad car having a floor, an end, a flight of steps, and a trap hinged to the end, of a supplementary bottom step member located at the lower end of the steps, side members connected with said pulley, said cable extending down through the floor of the car and being connected to one side member of the supplemental step, a second cable secured to the first cable below the floor of the car, pulleys in the sides of the steps directly below the top step member, a suspending pulley carried by the top step member, said second cable being engaged with the said pulleys 5 and being secured to the other side member of the supplemental step, whereby the side members and supplemental step are raised when the trap is lowered.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 20 in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK J. HAAS.

Witnesses H. M. LIOHTY, J. E. LINNGREN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

